Brendan Kelly Waxes Poetic About Straight Edge

When it began, straight edge was a term coined by Ian MacKaye in a Minor Threat tune and it had to do with his personal technique for keeping it together and how it sometimes made him feel like an outsider. He’s been pretty vocal about the fact that he never set it up to be a dogma or anything. In fact, in the very song where he lists off what gives him his ‘straight edge,’ he literally says “listen, there’s no set of rules.” However, like so many people who condemn homodom based on scripture, yet persist in eating shellfish, a lot of people took the “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t fuck” section to be prescriptive and straight up pretended the “there’s no set of rules” part didn’t ever happen. The results: militant straight edge: a group that will beat you up if you are smoking, drinking, taking drugs or being promiscuous.

In fact, one time I was bored and 19 or so, and I decided to go to the Fireside Bowl and attend a straight edge hardcore show. I went down there and smoked and drank beer, right in the pit. I was being a dick. I was just DARING people to fuck with me, and you know what? I got some dirty looks, but nothing malicious. It was more like the look you get if you fart on the elevator. I even made a couple of friends that night. I walked into the lions den covered in steaks, ready to start shit, and I met a dude who was like “Hey man. You okay? What are you doing here? Are you just trying to piss people off or something?”

Haha this story cracked me up. Loved how he was trying to stir up shit and they all treated him nice and he wound up feeling badly about it.

Personally, I smoke weed pretty much religiously. But the vast majority of my friends are edge kids/non drug users and I quite enjoy going to edge hardcore shows. I don't see what's so weird about having friends with different beliefs than yours.